Ammunition drum and turret for automatic weapons

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for the automatic supply of munitions to automatic weapons disposed in turrets comprising a rotating drum for intermediate storage, means adapted to load a belt of munitions in helicoidal form in said drum and to discharge said belt from said drum and a servo control means for the control of the speed of rotation of said drum in dependance of the rate of firing.

United States Patent Faisandier 1 Aug. 29, 1972 [54] AMMUNITION DRUM AND TURRET FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS [72] Inventor: Jacques Faisandier, 32 Bd. Felix- Faure, Chatillon-sous-Bagneux 92, France [22] Filed: June 25,1969

[21] Appl. No.: 836,307

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 26, 1968 France ..68156561 [52] US. Cl ..89/33 D, 89/33 BB, 89/33 F, 89/33 E, 89/375 A [51] Int. Cl. ..F41d 9/02, F41f 9/06, F41f 23/06 [58] Field of Search....L...89/33, 33 D, 33.5, 34, 37.5,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,401,909 6/1946 Carlzen ..89/33.5 2,521,346 9/1950 DAssis-Fonsecd.....89/37.5 X

2,538,045 1/1951 Ryan et a1 ..89/37.5

3,427,923 2/ 1969 Meyer et 211..

3,498,178 3/ 1970 Meyer et al ..89/34 OTHER PUBLICATIONS MAMEE, Emerson Electronics and Space Division, May 10, 1968, page 9.

Designing Gun Turrets as Integral Part of Aircraft, Part III Aviation, June 1943, pp. 227- 229, 231, 343, 344, 346.

Primary Examiner-Stephen C. Bentley Attorney-Fishman and Van Kirk [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for the automatic supply of munitions to automatic weapons disposed in turrets comprising a rotating drum for intermediate storage, means adapted to load a belt of munitions in helicoidal form in said drum and to discharge said belt from said drum and a servo control means for the control of the speed of rotation of said drum in dependance of the rate of firmg.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 29, 1972 3,687,004

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Aug. 29, 1972 3,687,004

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 29, 1972 3,687,004

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG-4 0 POWER 6 SUPPLV 46 s 32 45 43 /AMPLIFIER CONVENTOR TACHOMETER Patented Aug. 29, 1972 3,687,004

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 AMMUNITION DRUM AND TURRET FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to turrets for automatic weapons and more particularly to weapons where for reasons of space it is not possible to store munitions in the turret or in munition boxes outside and in the immediate proximity of the turret. Since the filling of conventional munition boxes necessitates a fairly wide and properly arranged access, the invention has particular utility, for example in helicopters, and these conditions do not always exist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The device according to the invention comprises in combination A rotating drum of annular cross-section serving for intermediate storage between the munition boxes and the weapon A sprocket-wheel disposed to serve the munitions at a level above the drum and rotating in a determined speed ratio in relation to the speed of rotation of the drum, so that the downward movement of the munition belt into the drum is matched to the rotational movement of the latter in order to effect the laying of the belt in helicoidal form in the drum,

A corridor or delivery conduit which is disposed between the drum and the turret and in which there is interposed the mechanical part of the device for controlling the speed of rotation of the drum and of the sprocket wheel in dependence on the rate of firing;

a well which is vertical, at least in its top portion, and which is situated at the top of the turret and disposed coaxially in relation to the axis of rotation of the latter, and in which the munition belt descends to the level at which the weapon is served;

a brake device disposed in said well in order to brake the excessively rapid descent of the munitions, either while the drum is supplied or at the end of the belt; and an electrical servo control device. According to another feature of the invention, advantage is taken of the presence of the well to house the carriage which effects the connection between the external inlet of the electric and hydraulic powers and the consumer installations inside the turret.

According to yet another feature According the invention, the flexible cables and flexible pipes are housed in the carriage by folding them in U-shape, thus permitting a very considerable oscillation of the rotating part on each side of a middle position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS for the munitions storage and feed apparatus of the present invention.

a nun 2 DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 the drum, the rotary part of which is designated generally by 1, is mounted on a stationary member 2, member 2 comprises a vertical, cylindrical portion 3 around which the drum 1 rotates. The running track for drum 1 is indicated at 4 and 5 represents one of the guide rollers for the drum. The cylinder 3 contains the electric drive motor 6, a tachometer type drive speed sensor 7, the torque limiter 8, and a first speed reducer 9. The speed reducer 9 transmits the movements of the output shaft of motor 6 to the sprocket wheel 10 through the gear train 12 and, through the second speed reducer 13, to the drum 1. The sprocket wheel 10, which is in the form of a gear the tooth gaps of which receive the munitions 14, is supported by its bearings above the drum, the bearings in turn being mounted above an opening in the cover 15 (FIG. 3) which closes the casing (not shown) containing the rotating drum 1.

In the various figures the links forming the belt carrying the munitions have not been shown, in order to keep the drawings clear.

A removable emergency crank 16 (FIG. 3) permits operation in the event of the failure of the electric motor 6.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the munitions arrive or are discharged from the drum through the corridor 17 and pass into the servocontrol corridor 18 containing the belt tension detector designated generally by 19 in FIG. 2. The munitions continue to the turret through the corridor 20, which is seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The corridors 17 and 20 preferably slope downwardly.

The munitions arriving in the turret through the corridor 20 (FIGS. 4 and 5) enter through the vertical well 21, passing over the return roller 22 and then under the tensioning roller 23; roller 23 being indicated diagrammatically by two circles (FIG. 4). Through the corridor 24 munitions arrive at the return roller 25 and then at the weapon, represented diagrammatically at 26, where they arrive on the left of said weapon. The links detached from the belt are discharged through the passage 27. The belt brake 28, constituted by two rollers connected together elastically by a spring (not shown), is disposed upstream of the roller 25.

The servocontrol device for the motor 6, of which the mechanical part is illustrated in FIG. 2, includes the belts tension detector designated generally by 19. Tension detector 19 is constituted by two bent levers 30, 31 pivoting with the axis 32 and carrying the roller 33 at one ends. The other end of detector 19 is acted on by a return spring 34, one end of which is fixed at 35 while the other end acts on the two levers 30, 31 to bring them and also the roller 33 into the position indicated in broken lines in FIG. 2. In this movement the roller 33 raises the belt, which weighs on the levers against the action of the spring 34. Two rollers 36, 37 delimit the length of the belt which can be raised by the roller 33. A hood 38 also limits the raising of the belt.

During firing, the weapon applies traction to the belt in the direction of the arrow F thus tending to reduce the lifting of the belt against the action of the spring 34. The angular displacement of the levers 30, 31 is measured by the inductive potentiometer 40 (FIG. 6), the rotor of which is keyed on the shaft 32. When the switch 41 is in the firing position T, the potentiometer 40 supplies a voltage which is compared with the voltage delivered by speed sensor 7 driven by the motor 6. This comparison gives rise to an error voltage which is the variable controlling the feeding of the motor 6. The means for generating the error voltage includes an amplifier 42, a converter 43 and a mixer 44; the error voltage generating circuitry being supplied with power via conductor 45 from a source 46 (not shown).

The part of the diagram in FIG. 6 which has just been briefly described is conventional, does not form part of the invention, and may be replaced by any equivalent device, whether the latter is electrical or hydraulic. Restated, any equivalent device which generates for the electric or hydraulic motor a speed proportional to a signal which is an angular may be employed.

The regulating potentiometer 47 is used when the switch 41 is in the position T. It then regulates the speed of loading or unloading of the rotating drum 1. Operation is as follows The loading of the empty magazine takes place after the tension detector 19 has been locked in the position shown in solid lines (FIG. 2), in which it is held by any suitable locking device (not illustrated). The belt is introduced manually into the corridor downstream of the detector through an opening (not illustrated) and is led through the detector to the sprocket wheel. The motor 6, which is a reversible, adjustable speed type motor, is started up. The speed of motor 6 will at this time be adjusted by the potentiometer 47. The sprocket wheel turns in a direction such that it pulls the belt and delivers it into the drum 1, which rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow F (FIG. 3). The belt is laid helicoidally in the drum. Before completion of the winding the motor is stopped and the end of the belt is suitably introduced through the corridor 20 and the well 21 until it can be attached to the weapon.

For firing purposes the direction of rotation of the motor 6 is reversed, the switch 41 is placed in the position T, and the detector 19 is unlocked. Upon locking the detector 19 assumes under the action of the spring 34, the position shown in broken lines, which effects the starting of the motor 6 and of the sprocket wheel 10. The drum turns in the direction of the arrow F the sprocket likewise turns in the opposite direction, and the weapon applies traction to the belt (arrow F It will be observed that one of the advantages of the arrangement as a whole consists in that the traction applied by the weapon has to overcome practically only the friction between the weapon and the detector and the weapon is aided by the difference in level in the well. When firing stops, the detector resumes the position shown in broken lines and the motor stops.

After the firing the belt has usually not been completely used and it is convenient to re-complete the filling of the drum. For this purpose the belt is opened downstream of the detector, at a position corresponding to the previously mentioned opening of the corridor, and a new belt is attached to the end of the old belt. The rotation of the motor and the switch 4]. are reversed, and the detector 19 is locked in the position shown in solid lines. On completion of the filling, the belt is opened at a position corresponding to the previously mentioned opening, and the ends of the old belt which is in the corridor 20 downstream and of the new belt upstream are connected together.

In order to empty the magazine completely, other than by firing, the belt is opened once again at the previously mentioned opening, and after putting the motor and the switch in a suitable position, the upstream end is pulled manually, thus acting sufficiently on the detector to start the motor running at low speed, thus effecting the extraction of the belt from the drum without it being necessary to increase the manual force. FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the embodiment of an additional idea of the invention, according to which advantage is taken of the presence of the well 21 to house the carriage which efiects the connection between the external inlet of the electric and hydraulic forces and the consumer installations inside the turret, thus making possible with minimum friction, the winding and unwinding of the flexible parts of electric cables and hydraulic pipes which make the connection to the outside.

This carriage is housed in an annular drum 50 mounted coaxially in relation to the well 21, around which it turns freely. In FIG. 5 51 and 52 designate the cable and pipe entries into the fixed part 54 of the tur' ret, and 53 designates their entry into the rotating part of the turret. As can be seen in FIG. 5, an additional idea of the invention consists in bending the flexible cables and flexible pipes into U-shape, thus enabling the entry box 54 to turn through on each side of the middle position illustrated, which is amply sufficient for practical requirements.

I claim: 1. In a weapons system including a turret mounted automatic weapon, a munitions storage and feed apparatus comprising:

drum means mounted for rotation about a vertical axis, said drum means having an unobstructed annular portion of constant cross-section which provides for intermediate storage of munitions in flexible belt form for ultimate delivery to the weapon;

sprocket-wheel means mounted ajacent to and above said drum means for delivering munitions to and extracting munitions from said drum means, munitions belts delivered by said sprocket-wheel means falling freely into said drum means annular portion;

means for rotating said drum means and sprocketwheel means with a predetermined speed ratio therebetween whereby the downward movement of a munitions belt delivered into said drum means annular portion is matched to the rotational movement of the drum means in order to effect the laying of the belt in helicoidal form in said drum means annular portion; and

means for supporting a munitions belt downstream of said sprocket-wheel means during extraction of a belt from said drum means for delivery thereof to a weapon.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, which said supporting means comprises:

conduit means for directing the munitions from said drum means to the turret; and

means positioned in said conduit means for continuously measuring the tension of the munitions belt.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the turret includes a vertical well and said supporting means delivers the munitions belt to said well at the upper part thereof, the storage and feed apparatus further comprising:

brake means disposed on the weapon side of said well in the direction of belt travel for controlling the descent of the munitions belt.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising:

carriage means on the turret, said carriage means being disposed coaxially of said vertical well and providing for the delivery of electrical and hydraulic power to the weapon mounted in said turret.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said carriage means includes:

connection means extending between the stationary and movable parts of the turret, said connection means including flexible conduits housed in said carriage and being formed into a U-shape.

6. A turret for an automatic weapon comprising:

a rotatable weapon mounting platform, said platform including a vertical well through which a munitions belt may be delivered to a weapon;

drum means having an unobstructed annular portion of constant cross-section positioned remotely of said platform, said drum means being mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and providing for intermediate storage of munitions in flexible belt form;

sprocket-wheel means mounted adjacent to and above said drum means for delivering munitions to and extracting munitions from said drum means annular portion, munitions belts delivered by said sprocket-wheel means falling freely into said drum means annular portion;

means for rotating said drum and said sprocketwheel means with a predetermined speed ratio therebetween; and

brake means mounted in the turret on the weapon side of said vertical well in the direction of munitions travel for controlling the descent of a munitions belt.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said weapon mounting platform further comprises:

carriage means, said carriage means being disposed in the turret and coaxially of said vertical well and provided for the delivery of electrical and hydraulic power to the weapon.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said carriage means is rotatable and includes:

connection means extending between the stationary and movable parts of the turret, said connection means including flexible conduits housed in said carriage and being formed into U-shapes.

222 3? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CETIFICATE @F C@ ECTIQ Patent No. 3 a Dated August 29 1972 Inventor(s) Jacques Faisandier It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

IN THE SPECIFICATION Column 3, line 15, after "angular" insert '--magnitude-- Column 3, line 40, change "locking" to --unlocking-- Signed and sealed this 6th day of February 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD MQFLETCHER ,JRB ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attestlng Officer Commissioner of Patents 22 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION 3,687,004 Dated August 29, 1972 Patent No.

Inventor(s) Jacques Faisandier It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

IN THE SPECIFICATION Column 3, line 15, after ."angular" insert '--magnitude-- Column 3, line 40, change "locking" to --unlocking-- Signed and sealed this 6th day of February 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. t ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. In a weapons system including a turret mounted automatic weapon, a munitions storage and feed apparatus comprising: drum means mounted for rotation about a vertical axis, said drum means having an unobstructed annular portion of constant crosssection which provides for intermediate storage of munitions in flexible belt form for ultimate delivery to the weapon; sprocket-wheel means mounted ajacent to and above said drum means for delivering munitions to and extracting munitions from said drum means, munitions belts delivered by said sprocketwheel means falling freely into said drum means annular portion; means for rotating said drum means and sprocket-wheel means with a predetermined speed ratio therebetween whereby the downward movement of a munitions belt delivered into said drum means annular portion is matched to the rotational movement of the drum means in order to effect the laying of the belt in helicoidal form in said drum means annular portion; and means for supporting a munitions belt downstream of said sprocket-wheel means during extraction of a belt from said drum means for delivery thereof to a weapon.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, which said supporting means comprises: conduit means for directing the munitions from said drum means to the turret; and means positioned in said conduit means for continuously measuring the tension of the munitions belt.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the turret includes a vertical well and said supporting means delivers the munitions belt to said well at the upper part thereof, the storage and feed apparatus further comprising: brake means disposed on the weapon side of said well in the direction of belt travel for controlling the descent of the munitions belt.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising: carriage means on the turret, said carriage means being disposed coaxially of said vertical well and providing for the delivery of electrical and hydraulic power to the weapon mounted in said turret.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said carriage means includes: connection means extending between the stationary and movable parts of the turret, said connection means including flexible conduits housed in said carriage and being formed into a U-shape.
 6. A turret for an automatic weapon comprising: a rotatable weapon mounting platform, said platform including a vertical well through which a munitions belt may be delivered to a weapon; drum means having an unobstructed annular portion of constant cross-section positioned remotely of said platform, said drum means being mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and providing for intermediate storage of munitions in flexible belt form; sprocket-wheel means mounted adjacent to and above said drum means for delivering munitions to and extracting munitions from said drum means annular portion, munitions belts delivered by said sprocket-wheel means falling freely into said drum means annular portion; means for rotating said drum and said sprocket-wheel means with a predetermined speed ratio therebetween; and brake means mounted in the turret on the weapon side of said vertical well in the direction of munitions travel for controlling the descent of a munitions belt.
 7. The apparatus oF claim 6 wherein said weapon mounting platform further comprises: carriage means, said carriage means being disposed in the turret and coaxially of said vertical well and providing for the delivery of electrical and hydraulic power to the weapon.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said carriage means is rotatable and includes: connection means extending between the stationary and movable parts of the turret, said connection means including flexible conduits housed in said carriage and being formed into U-shapes. 